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Snickers Macarons

June 11, 2008

If some well established passion fruit-chocolate or cassis-violet pairing French macarons masters were reading this, they would probably take out their whisk and come after me. On a side note, as my mate Zen Chef pointed it out, since Pierre Herme looks more melon than lemon, I'll take pretty boy Michalak in a heartbeat...forgive me this aparté, it's got to be the heat.

Yep, the heat...As I was reaching for a gallon of water in the pantry I discovered Mr.Tartelette's secret Snickers stash. He pretended they had fallen behind the picnic totes and I pretended not to have a sudden craving for some peanut, marshmallow caramel and chocolate. I stood up and knocked my head on one of the shelves. It had been a long hot day, with many little work things nipping at me, like a last minute macaron order and the last thing I needed was a bump, a bruise or a headache. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and calmly said "That's it. Snickers Macarons."

"Isn't it like French macarons gone white trash? Mac on crack,maybe?" he asked. Yeah, well...maybe...but if either Pierre or Christophe tried one, I know they would react the same way we did after I assembled them: "More! Where are those darn KitKat bars now?!" I love the Snickers combination of milk chocolate, peanuts, caramel and nougat but like for most people, one bar is too much and too little at the same time. I admire my friend S. who cuts it in four pieces and eat them throughout the day. For me it's more like throughout the next three minutes!

I still have a good bit of the dulce de leche that Marcela brought me and given the heat wave lately (seems that way in most states), I used it instead of standing over the stove and make a caramel filling. Coming out of a double shift, I hope you will forgive me if the nougat was a bit of a shortcut too....but a sweet one as I melted marshmallows with peanut butter. The rest of the parts were a simple milk chocolate ganache and a whole peanut in the center of each macarons. As far as the shells, I used half almonds and half peanuts to keep most of the oily mass out and add to the peanut flavor. Chocolate macaron shells have always been my dreaded part, they are never chocolaty enough for me and more finicky than other shells, so this time, instead of simply adding 2 Tb of cocoa powder like I would normally do, I also subtracted 2 Tb of the powdered sugar before mixing it in with the nuts and the meringue. Worked like a charm!

Warning from Mr. Tartelette: do not eat these straight out of the refrigerator or you will need new dentures and new jaws. The marshmallow cream does get hard but if you let the macarons sit out for 10-15 minutes prior to eating (or devouring) the shells and the fillings become as soft as a Snickers bar. I hope that Minko likes this candy bar gone wild in macarons because I am virtually sending them to the "Mad For Macarons" event she organised. Sorry for being last minute...

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won't work. Combine the almonds, peanuts, cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Pipe or spoon some ganache on one shell and sandwich with another one.If you use fresh whites, zap them up in the microwave on medium high for 20 seconds to mimic the aging process.

Milk Chocolate Ganache:1 cup milk chocolate1/2 cup heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat, drop in the milk chocolate and let stand a couple of minutes. Gently stir the chocolate into the cream until smooth. Set aside until it cools down and thickens a bit (a trip to the fridge is ok)

Marshmallow Cream:2 cups marshmallows1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

In a heavy saucepan over medium low heat, melt the marshmallows and peanut butter until smooth. Let cool. Once cooled you will be able to pull the "nougat" and from the saucepan and cut pieces to flatten in the palm of your hands and sandwich with the rest of the ingredients.

Mac on crack . . . I know this has to be illegal! I can only hope that I will forget that I saw this when I wake up in the morning.You've done plenty of macarons that look fantastic but these look the most amazing and over the top or they just must be singing "I'm everything you've been dreaming." Awesome perfect!

talk about sticky, gooey and crunchy... my husband would kill for these! I actually just made some nougat and some milk chocolate macarons (separately)... and you worked double shift? oh man... I remember those days and I feel for you. Two days after I found out I was pregnant with Jon, it was Thanksgiving and I worked from 8am to midnight. Not fun... hey, but why am I rambling so much? It's about how gorgeous these macs are and yes, PH and Cutie Boy would love them as well!

You actually still have the energy to make these after a double shift??!! You are unbelievably amazing!! Double shifts kill me, and by the end of one it's pretty much impossible to get my bum off my seat, let alone slave away more in the kitchen making macarons! I don't care what traditionalists might say about these, I think your idea's fabulous!! Lucky Mr. Tartelette....

Everytime I see the stats on my blog jumping from 6 visits a week to 4768 visits an hour I know you have mentioned my name on one of your posts. Are you trying to get me in trouble with Pierre Hermé? Like as said, i'm no match for him. He could swallow me in one bite. :-)

It looks delicious as always Helene. One day I want to see a polka dot macaron dedicated to me. Haha.

Oh Helen, you are absolutely mad! A mad scientist perhaps! This is just fantastic! I don't care if it makes me crass, I love them :) I will defend you from the whisk-wielders. Actually, more than one French pastry chef have sung the praises of the Snickers bar. I am certainly one of those types who consumes one after the other!

Only in America will you see these words: melted marshmallows with peanut butter...well I think so..So you grind your own almond flour? Hmmm....Do you rec a special brand of almond Helene? So often I find Macs have these bumpy shells in NYC?Most disappointing to bite into a bumpy shell :(your's always look so perfect.Love the idea of using Dolce de leche..wonder if you could add a bit of salt to it...Can you tell I'm trying to get my mind around to making macarons?

Oh wow I love all of your macaron creations!! I don't like actual Snickers bars but this version looks like it would be way better! I'd want to try marshmallow cream instead of marshmallows though (since marshmallow cream has no gelatin).

That seems like a wonderful to make the everyday candy bar transform into utter chicness! I really have to start making macarons again.. I leaned from a recreational class at 'le notre' in Paris but never got around to making them again at home. With your many macarons variations I am inspired to try them very soon!

I have never made or even had a macaron. Just looking at these is making my mouth water. But I have to admit that it will be some time before I try them, for now I will just come around here to admire yours!

Dang Helen. These just may have pushed me to finally, finally try macarons. I read "shortcut" and "easy" and oh, there was that mention of Snickers...Thanks for the head's up on the possibility of losing my teeth, though. What a way to go, huh? Mmmm....

I've tried making your macarons... while they were in the oven (for 10 mins) they were so beautiful, they had excellent feet very high but when I took them out of the oven they kinda collapse in the center and the feet shrunk...why? what did I do wrong??PLEASE help!!

Anonymous: looks like they did not bake long enough. I wish there was an exact time for macarons baking but oven temperature and humidity outside will influence that issue. To test if a macarons is done, gently lift one from the tray, it if peels easily you are good to go. If it still wet around the feet than add 5 minutes and check again. Example: we had a lot of rain yesterday and my macarons were taking close to 25 minutes.

I made just the shells yesterday afternoon, and I have to tell you that even though they spread a bit in the oven (they're a little amoeba-like, perhaps due to misshapen baking sheets?) I would consider his batch, my third, to be a success!

They are so good! It's like biting into a brownie with a crackly top :)

I think I've decided to plunge in and try to make these babies. Would you by chance be able to convert the ingredient list for me though? Or do you know an online converter that would work? I've never used anything other than good old cups and spoons when measuring.

I assume you are using a convection oven? I just tried this recipe and everything was great, including feet, but the centers were nowhere near done even after sticking them back in the oven three times. Anyone tried this in a conventional oven? Temp and time?

I just wanted to say that i tried these today as an alternative to chocolate macarons.

I actually left out half the ingredients and it still turned out great! I have a little magic bullet type blender, so I processed the almond meal, powdered sugar, cocoa and peanuts in two separate lots. After drawing 1.5cm circles and carefully piping out all the shells, I turned around and realised that I had forgotten to add the second bit of powdered ingredients. I figured, oh well, let's see what happened - they actually came out fine, if not better than my usual attempts.

They're a lighter macaron that tastes divine, but more prone to cracking (in case any readers wish to try it).

Hi! Wow. First of all, fantastic blog site! Very impressive! I was truly inspired by your macarons, that I convinced myself to try making them for the first time ever! I've always heard that they were hard to make, so I followed your recipe and method to the tee.

The shells seemed to have developed a nice crust/skin, I baked them for about 8-10 mins, pulled them out to cool.

I had 2 trays, the tray on the top shelf was overcooked, totally collapsed in the center, the second tray actually looked ok. When I tried to remove the shells from the second tray, they needed a bit more encouragement than I thought was necessary. They were definitely gooey, but I think they were still undercooked.

What can I do to cook them well enough, that they will come out cooked through but not burnt and overcooked??? I would really like to make perfect macaroons like you. Thank you in advance!!! :)

I made these, but mine didn't develop feet and they are so delicate that they crumble in my hands when I try to fill them - I'm assuming that I didn't beat out enough air from the mixture, do you think that's right?

O.k., I'm jumping into the macaron craze. I just have to make them. Tried last night but they were so-so. Just so-so enough to make me manic and want to get it right. ARgh... Here we go! Thank you for your webite. I cannot wait to follow.

I made my first attempt at macarons yesterday adapting an Ottolenghi recipe to come up with a Snickers macaron http://bit.ly/jIjibN. But having seen your recipe I'm going to have to try these too - the combination of marshmallow peanut goo and chocolate ganache sounds totally incredible, yum!